TEHRAN —
Iran’s leading automaker is seeking
to prioritize exports to Russia, its CEO said Sunday, as both countries reel
under Western economic sanctions.
اضافة اعلان
Iran Khodro unveiled the latest model of its
crossover Rira vehicle at its factory west of Tehran, where CEO Mehdi Khatibi
announced the manufacturer’s ambitions for the Russian market.
“We are going to pay special attention to the
Russian market, and we are also thinking of partnering with Russian investors,”
he said.
“We have held good negotiations with
Moscow. The
Russian market, with its capacities, will be one of our important markets,”
Khatibi added.
“We will begin exporting this year” to Russia, he
said.
Iran Khodro had previously exported vehicles to
Russia, notably between 2007 and 2009, Iranian media said.
Sunday’s announcement comes after Russian President
Vladimir Putin visited Tehran in July and met his Iranian counterpart Ebrahim
Raisi and supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Russia has come under increasingly tough sanctions
since its February invasion of Ukraine, while Iran has faced stringent
sanctions reimposed in 2018 when the US unilaterally pulled out of a nuclear
deal between Tehran and world powers.
The two countries have responded to the sanctions by
boosting cooperation in key areas to help prop up their economies.
Iran Khodro’s vice president, Kianoush Pourmojib,
struck an optimistic note on Sunday, pointing to increased exports to
Azerbaijan over the past five years.
“We are ambitious about improving the quality of our
vehicles,” he told AFP.
He added that while the manufacturer hopes to
compete in markets such as Azerbaijan, Oman, and Iraq, “in volume, it is of
course Russia that is the most important”.
“This year, we will produce more than 500,000 vehicles and
our goal within three years is to export 100,000 vehicles annually,” compared
with fewer than 20,000 currently, he said.
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